


Forgotten Partners

by Depressed_Stub



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: IDK ya'll this is just some AU I made Up I'll add in tags and characters as I go whoop pls enjoy.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26873410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Depressed_Stub/pseuds/Depressed_Stub
Summary: “It was dark, dark, dark, dark...”
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

Dark. That’s all I can see, dark.

Where am I? What happened? Did I die?

Am I dead?  
Hot, I feel hot.

It’s burning, I feel like I’m on fire.

Am I on fire?

Am I dead?

What happened, you need to remember. 

Remember what?

Your name. You know your name.

. . . 

. . .

. . .

What is my name?

I can’t remember.

It’s dark.

I don’t feel hot anymore.

Cold, now I feel cold.

And...

wet.

I’m cold and wet.

But I was hot before?

I remember something, finally.

Pain.

I remember pain, I remember... fighting.

Why was I fighting? 

Why am I not scared?

Him.

. . .

. . .

. . .

I remember the man, moustache. 

I was with him.

And he hurt me.

I was fighting him.

No...

Not him.

Me.

I was fighting myself, for..

Control.

HE was controlling me, I couldn’t feel.

It was dark, dark, dark, dark.

I was fighting for control over my body for so long, I could see and hear everything. But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.

I’m breathing.

. . .

I can feel cold again.

I feel, weak.  
Weak. Yeah. Weak, because that’s what I am.

Weak.

I couldn’t save them. My squad, they’re gone.

My wife.

Elizabeth can you hear me?

. . .

. . .

I miss you. I wish you could’ve been there, to see our girl.

. . .

Our girl.

My beautiful daughter, wherever you are, I wish I could’ve found you.

I would’ve brought you home, I promised to keep you safe.

. . .

But I failed.

. . .

. . .

. . .

Because I’m weak.  
. . . 

. . .

. . .

Elizabeth... can you hear me?

Yes.

Where are you?

I’m here waiting for you here at home, in the house we always wanted.

Our home, we wanted a family. How many kids did we want?

Don’t you remember? You always did forget everything, that’s one of the many quirks I love about you. We wanted five kids remember? Two girls and three boys. 

That’s right.

Why can’t I see you?

Because it’s not your time yet, the Gods have given you mercy and spared your life, all you have to do is open your eyes. 

Will you leave if I do?

I’m afraid so.

Then I never want to open my eyes if it means you leave me again.

I’ll always be here, watching over you, protecting you. Cause Chaos knows you need it with your recklessness.

I’m not that bad, weren’t you the one who ate a whole jar of chili peppers and couldn’t stop throwing up for a week?

Oh hush, it was worth it.  
. . .

. . .

. . .

Is someone else talking?

They found you love. You have to wake up now.

Who found me? Why can’t I remember anything?

You’ll remember, give it time.

I don’t want to say goodbye.

This isn’t goodbye, I’ll come back for you.

Do you promise?

I promise you.

I love you.

I love you too. 

And just like that, I opened my eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

I opened my eyes and everything was fuzzy, blurry. Like looking in a mirror that wasn't cleaned very well. I heard voices, a lot of them, but even those were muffled, why is everything so loud?

Things started to clear after a minute, I was able to see better, still a little fuzzy, but better. My hearing returned too, though the ringing made listening to the voices far off a bit difficult.... Why do I have the urge to... throw up?

I looked up, I was being carried, well more like dragged there was a lot of pink, and red. There's a strong, painful, pounding pain in my chest, but I'm going to ignore that until I figure out who these people are, and what the hell happened.

. . .

What the hell happened?

_You passed out, love._

Oh for fucks sake.

. . .

I woke up again, but I'm not outside anymore, smells like a hospital. The hospital.

I was able to move my fingers. 

"Mrrgh...?"

I felt eyes on me, but who was it? Things still looked blurry, I heard those voices again, did I lose my mind or are they real people? The pink and red, were those the illusions? Those damn illusions.

I turned my head to the right, I looked over the room and it was filled with people, as my vision steadied it was clear as crystal, this was the resistance. I feel like I should be angry, upset, terrified. But I'm not. I'm... glad, I'm glad they found me and not someone else, someone looking for my head. The pink one from earlier walked up to me, slowly, with caution.

"I can't feel most my body, you can walk normally."

That seemed to catch pretty much everyone off guard, everyone but a few, a black hedgehog, what looked to be a walking tank, a crocodile, and a chameleon. 

The pink one walked over quicker, I remember her now that I can see her face, she carried a hammer and I think she was the leader when I was stuck in Infinite. She looked tense, really banged up, probably from the clones. Her quills, (hair ?), were a mess, her dress was tore up and she still had some open wounds on her arms. 

"Do you know where you are or what happened to you?" She spoke quietly but stern, she grabbed something from her boot and placed it next to my hand. 

"No idea where I am, but you're all here so Imma take a wild guess and say, the resistance base?" I answered her, I have nothing to hide, I can't feel anything aside from the damn rock that's probably been superglued to my chest. "And I don't remember much about what happened to me, I know the doctor put me in that robot, stuck needles and weird wires into me. But other than that its blank."

The girl grabbed my wrist, but it felt gentle, was she... sorry for me?

"You were found in the wreckage after the final battle we-" I had to cut her off. 

"That wasn't the final battle. He's got bigger, stronger weapons, and backup plans in case _IT_ failed." I can feel my arms now, improvement, I need a better look at this group of kids. I tried to sit up, using my elbows as support. Her grip got a lot tighter.

"What kind of weapons?" A strong voice from behind the girl spoke up, it was mad, but also scared. A little.... shaken. I looked behind the girl and back at the voice, it was the red figure I saw. I recognize him, he was there during a lot of the smaller battles, but he wasn't out a lot with the armies. An echidna, he looks like a really angry ketchup bottle.

Damn, now I want fries.

"I'm not sure," I'm being honest, but he won't believe me. "The first plan wasn't supposed to fail, I was never told what he had in case of emergencies. But from what he said while talking to the smaller bots, its something to do with a gas that causes living people to become robots. He's going to use them to destroy everything because they're, like, unstoppable?"

There was a wave of concern and fear that covered the room.

"I'm Amy, if you don't mind me asking, why are you telling us all of this?" Amy, the pink hedgehog that has had a death grip on my wrist since I decided to sit up.

"Hello... Amy, I'm Zerellis, but my wife just called me Zero." God my name sounds ridiculous out loud, thanks Dad for your dumbass name choice. "I'm telling you all of this because If anyone wants to get back at that damn scientist, it's me. He put that damn mask on me and controlled me for 3 **_FUCKING YEARS_**." 

I lost my temper, shit. I took a breath in and out and looked back at Amy. 

"I won't kill him. I just want to see him bleed." 

Everyone was looking now, before some of these kids were looking at the ground, or a wall. But everyone is looking. And now that I can see everyone's faces, I recognize a couple, and it sent chills of sorrow and regret down my spine. 

That's when the black hedgehog spoke up. 

"You said you were controlled for 3 years, the war has been going on for 6 months. So you either don't know how read a calendar or your story is fake. I'm choosing to go with option 2."

At this point I was able to feel to my legs, so I sat up little bit more. That's when I noticed the cuffs on my ankles and wrists. 

"Well, It took about 3 years to finish the Ruby, it was still in development when I was captured. I was put through tests to figure out the extent of the power, It then took 6 more months to get through training so.... why don't you do the math." I looked over to him, into those dark crimson eyes, he was still just a kid yet there was so much pain in those eyes. "I mean, you're the one who cause all of this, I figured you'd remember."

He looked at the ground, he smirked, I saw a twinkle of fang in there. He looked back up at me and stood up straight. 

"You really think all of this was my fault?" He said quietly, in a deep voice.

"No, of course not! I just think If you kept your brooding self out our score this silly little war would never had happened," Eyes seemed to move from me to him, looking for answers on what I was talking about. "Come on, Shadow. Isn't it about time we had a little chat?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bout damn time I do this. I promise I'll try and make it longer next time, it was late and this is all my brain could think of. I WANT My BABBYYYYYYYY SOON I PROMISE SHE WILL APPEAR!!!


	3. Chapter 3

The room was dead silent, not sure if I expected everyone to start asking questions or what, but the quiet was a change that was not comforting. Shadow stood there silently, unamused by the situation, the bat that stood next to him look from me to him a few times.

"Shadow?" She asked him, she sounded stern, like a mother giving her child the code for 'apologize or else'. He turned to her, his eyes were dull, it was very unnatural. 

"Now isn't the time, the battle still isn't over, we have no time for useless banter." He said finally, once the last word left his mouth a red echidna decided it was his turn to speak. I didn't even get to reply.

"Shadow has a point. You said there's more weapons, stronger than you, where are they?" He said loudly, I've seen him multiple times and his tone never seemed to change, guess that wasn't just acting.

"Like I said," The pain in my chest was getting worse, a lot worse, the more words that came out the more it burned. How long until I can no longer sit up? "I was never given clearance to see the weapons or no the locations, I was never supposed to be taken down. They were backups, and the Doctor made sure he had backups for each of those too."

"Great," The pink hedgehog spoke up, her hand was still gripping my wrist tightly, was she scared I was going to fight? "So not only is Eggman missing, he also has super-weapons that are stronger than Infinite we-" 

"Zero." I cut her off, I am NOT Infinite, that isn't me. The jackal cuffed to a table is me.

"Right, Zero. So I guess now we just have to send out search parties and spies to see if they can find anything. Does anyone have any ideas on what to do with Zero in the mean time?"

Before anyone can answer, the Ruby activated, it was random and it seemed to suck what little power and life I had left in my body. The pain quickly went from tolerable to being rammed at full speed by a semi. 

" **AGH!** " I yelled, I couldn't help it, the pain was so sudden it was unbearable. Everyone looked over at once, they looked ready to fight, not like I was able to tell through the illusions. Was I the only one who was seeing them or were they being projected? 

Amy's grip got stronger, a lot stronger, she grabbed her hammer with her free hand just in case. I guess they can see the illusions too.

Before anything happened, they disappeared, the misshapen blobs of what I can only guess to be people. The room was ringing, it was loud, too loud. The pain dulled enough to where I won't scream but it still hurts like hell.

They were all talking, I could hear it, but at the same time I couldn't. I knew they were talking, among each other, not to me. I can't hear the words, but they kept repeating "Infinite", "Ruby", "Cell", I'm not leaving here. Not in one peace anyway.

When the ringing stopped I looked over to everyone, they were a little calmer, talking about what they should do to me.

"I thought you destroyed the power source, why is it still turning on- FUCK THIS HURTS." The Ruby activated again, no illusions but it continued to suck the life out of me, I felt light headed.

"We did! You shouldn't be able to use it at all!" The small fox raised his voice to talk over the blue hedgehog trying to calm down that loudmouth spiked earth rat. 

"HE SHOULDN'T BE USING IT ANYWAY!!!!!" The echidna screamed from the other side of the room, he was being held back by the blue hedgehog and the crocodile. 

"I'm not using it, it's not me. I don't know how to activate it, HE did that for me." I told them, the pain was coming back quickly, I couldn't keep my body up anymore so I lied back down. "Oh this does not feel nice."

The fox started pressing buttons on his handheld, I don't remember if he called it anything. He held it up to me and slowly moved it up and down, side to side, I think he was scanning me.

"Guys come take a look at this!" The fox shouted over to the others.

That grabbed their attention, they managed to calm down the red one, he was still grumbling but it was a lot more of a 'I can't believe I lost the fight I started'.

"Yea, what's up Tails?" The blue hedgehog walked over, Tails, I remember hearing that name.

Tails showed the others his handheld, he clicked a button and started pointing. 

"From the scan it looks like the Phantom Ruby is being powered by something other than the power sources we destroyed. By all logic it shouldn't be functioning at all, but because of some other source, its still going." He continued to explain his theories and the scan. I stopped listening after a while, if the Ruby was going after my own natural power then I'm in trouble. No wonder it hurts so damn much, it's killing me.

"It's me.." I managed to get out, the pain paralyzed me, I couldn't move, everything looked blurry, and the events around me sounded like muffled static. "My natural power is probably what's powering it... get this dumb rock off me already, I want it gone before it kills me." 

They went quiet, Tails finally spoke up. 

"About that," He pressed a few buttons on his handheld and walked over, "we can't get the Ruby off without studying it some more. Sorry."

"That's alright kid, it's fine..." I looked down at him, moving my head as much as possible, Tails walked back over to his friends and continued asking questions, getting answers, and kept coming up with theories.

The next few minutes passed with me suffering in silence, sounds continued to get more muffled, I started to lose my sight, things were going black in my right eye. From what I could hear, the bat was joining in on the conversation, Amy had left to join the others, no one came over the entire time. Soon I was laying there for what felt like hours, my eyes grew heavy, I was tired. The Ruby taking my power and energy was taking its toll, I needed to rest to regain my strength, it seemed reasonable.

I slowly started to close my eyes, my body went limp, the pain came back one last time but it was so gentle, I barely felt it. I saw red flashing before my eyes shut, I heard almost every voice collectively shout "WAIT-!". My eyes closed finally and I felt at peace, it was quiet, I slept for what felt like years, it was great.

_My love please, you have to wake up. You've slept for too long._

How long?

_3 hours._

I can sleep longer.

_Get up, you need to find help._

I'm with the group of dumb kids, I'm fine.

_My love, do you not remember?_

No. What did I forget?

_Before you went to sleep, the Ruby teleported you, far, I'm not sure where, but far._

I quickly opened my eyes, the birds chirping, that was new.

I was in a forest, beautiful bright green trees sheltered me from the bright sun, I felt grass, cool breeze, and I heard the sound of small footsteps getting louder.

I couldn't move, my body was heavy and in so much pain, so many parts of my skin was stinging, but I wasn't sure why. As the sound of footsteps got louder, the pain seemed to lighten, numbed just a little, the stinging seemed to cease as well. I felt panicked, someone was coming, someone who might not be one of those ridiculous children that somehow fought a war and made it out alive. The footsteps ceased when the were next to me, I couldn't move, couldn't talk, I was just there, ready to have a bullet blown through my skull.

But that didn't happen, a small face popped into my view, bright purple hair, mis-matched eyes, a little fang that's just a tad too dull to do any damage. 

That was all I was able to see before I closed my eyes again, I was still so tired, I needed to rest.

"Heyyo mister, are you ok?"

That was the last thing I heard before I was swept off into the land of unconsciousness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying y'alllllll but at least precious baby childs debut is FINALLY HERE YAAAA


	4. Chapter 4

I felt pain all over my body, I heard voices, muffled ones. While I was resting my wife visited me multiple times, she knew what was going on and she kept me informed. While I was under Dr. Eggman's control I was severely injured multiple times, but I never noticed the wounds because the Ruby hid them. They were never healed, just ignored until the Ruby lost its power. And because of how weak I am from the war, it drained my own natural power so it can stay active. That caused me to go into a coma for 3 weeks. 

I need to wake up, who was talking, who was that child? But most importantly, where did I end up?

I opened my eyes, I couldn't move, couldn't feel anything aside from the pain. I tried looking around but I was only able to move my eyes, so there wasn't much to see. I way on my back so it was just a ceiling, but the wooden roof told me I was in a house and not a hospital or holding cell. 

My ears were ringing loudly, but slowly the sound was fading and I was able to hear the voices better, I kept hearing "Infinite," so they recognize me, I'm most likely still in the city in that case. 

I stared at the ceiling, not that I had much of a choice, the more I studied it the more I saw. The wood was old, very worn, there was dust covering the corners and I'm almost positive I saw a spider walking around up there. The sunlight coming in from, somewhere, caused the web it had built to sparkle. There were scratches on the beams, but they weren't natural, guess someone used it as a jungle gym. 

Before I was able to finish my thought I heard a door slide open, quiet footsteps walked towards me, they were slow. I moved my eyes to look over at who was walking, I saw their ears and a glimpse of hair before they paused and quickly walked back to the door.

"He's awake." The voice whispered. Soon there was a collection of footsteps coming towards me, from the sound of it there were about 7 of them, I looked over again and I was finally able to see faces. They were all standing over me, they were all jackals. 

There were about 3 kids, teenagers at the most, and the rest were adults, all women aside from the kids. 

"Can you move at all?" The oldest asked me, she seemed like she was in her late 60's, maybe early 70's. I wasn't able to answer her, so I just blinked, maybe that'll be good enough of an answer for her.

"He may be paralyzed, his spine was damaged pretty badly. Possibly still stuck in coma state but just conscious." A much younger jackal looked up at the older one, were they the doctors?

The group talked amongst themselves for a while, asking about different treatments and possible problems that could happen if they used this or that. All I got out of their conversation was how messed up I really was. When they found me I had a broken spine, arm, and multiple ribs, not to mention the multiple fractures all over the place. I had cuts and gashes all over my body, and my right eye has been damaged beyond repair and was now completely blind.

They finally agreed on a treatment which is what snapped me back into the conversation. 

"We are going to heal you slowly as not to put your body through worse shock than it's already in. This will take time, especially with your injuries." The eldest told me, her voice was stern, very strict.

I blinked again in response, she nodded and looked over to the others. "Start treatment, Alex, you're taking first shift. The rest of you, go tend to the other wounded until its your turn, you will switch every hour."

They all went off except for one, Alex I guess was his name, I wasn't able to see his face until he came over to my side. He was pretty young, definitely not a teenager, long hair that went down almost to his knees, the ends were a bright green. Strange, he doesn't seem afraid to approach me, nor did he protest to taking first shift. Good to know they aren't afraid of me here.

He sat down on my left, my arm was completely numb on this side, he put his hands down on my arm and ran it up and down, supposedly looking for the break. Once he found it this green glowing energy came from his palms, it's been a while since I've seen another jackal use magic and it honestly surprised me. The pattern was quite beautiful, the power seemed to envelop my arm like a cloth, it was warm and it felt comforting. 

It was quiet for a while, not much noise aside from Alex's breathing and straining while holding my arm. I noticed that his hair seemed to get more green the longer he was using his power. A few minutes more passed when Alex decided to break the silence.

"You snore in your sleep." He said suddenly, no warnings, just throwing out words.

I looked at him confused but I don't think he noticed, because he kept talking.

"You also haven't moved in 3 weeks, so do you really have to use the bathroom now?" He looked up at me like he was expecting me to respond, I just kept staring, not like I could do much else.

There was a long awkward silence between us for a moment before he had decided to continue talking, not about me but about a book. Alex complained about the story and the characters, how it should've been written and how many typos there were.

It was like this for the rest of the hour.

Hours went by, a different healer came in every time the other needed a break, they were mostly quiet aside from the occasional comment or catching me up on current events. The whole day they focused on my breaks and not much on my paralysis, I don't blame them, they're probably afraid I'll hurt them.

The one that was healing me at the moment was the eldest who seemed to be the teacher for the others, she took her hands off my chest, my ribs felt a little better. She sat up and took a deep breath before standing and heading towards the door. 

"I'll send someone to come feed you once the food is ready, it'll be a while so get some rest until then." She told me, I never got her name but I don't think it really mattered. She opened the door and left, locking it behind her, I finally had peace and time to myself.

I've been sleeping for so long but I still felt so exhausted, the Ruby was really taking effect on me. I wonder what those dumb kids have been up to, I suddenly disappeared in front of them, I'm sure they were looking for me. I closed my eyes, calmed my breathing, and rested.

For about 5 seconds.

It wasn't long before my sweet rest was interrupted by the sound of the door unlocking, was it already time to eat? I opened my eyes and looked towards the door, small footsteps quietly walked over to me, but I couldn't see who it was. They sat down next to me and I was finally able to get a good look, it was the same kid from before.

I was able to see everything I missed from before, she was very young, she couldn't be no older than 5. She looked more curious than afraid, despite be next to the man who just destroyed most of the world. She wore an oversized blue long sleeved shirt with yellow shorts, and her hair. Chaos, her _hair_. It went to her knees and was just solid purple, how? How can child this young have hair that long in that color? It had to be dyed, it must naturally grow, there is no way she has any power.

I was so caught up looking at _her_ hair that I didn't notice she was petting _my_ hair, "Pretty..." she spoke softly, like she was going to break me. 

She looked me in the eye and smiled, "Bapa tired?" 

What?

"Bapa go.... you go sleep." She spoke a little more loudly this time, she continued to play with my hair, it looked like she was brushing it out with her fingers.

Who the hell is Bapa? Maybe she's mistaken me for someone. Go away, brat, I don't want you here, go play with your dolls or something.

She dropped my hair and scooted closer, she giggled and tilted her head, I was able to see her straight now.

"Go to sleep, daddy." 

No.

Stop.

I am not a father, I am not **YOUR** father.

I'm not.

Not anymore.

I closed my eyes, shut them as tight as I could and tried to block her out, but she just kept talking.

"Bapa," It was her way to say father, she thinks I'm her father. She needs to leave, get away. I lost my family a long time ago, so I know that you aren't my family.

That you aren't my daughter.

She talked so quietly that I was actually able to fall asleep during one of her ramblings, I was awoken when someone walked through the door. 

"Marileen, what are you doing in here?" The voice seemed to giggle slightly, I opened my eyes and saw that the child had fallen asleep on my shoulder, she was curled up into a ball.

I looked up to where the voice came from and saw a woman walking towards me with 2 bowls in hand. She was about my height, hair in a bob with a flower in it, she was wearing what looked to be a robe but I wasn't sure.

She came over, placed the bowls down and shook the kid awake, "Marileen, sweetie, you can't be here. Grandma is looking for you, go get something to eat."

That's right, go back to your grandma and leave me alone.

The kid stood up and rubbed her eyes, she started whining and complaining that she didn't want to leave, but she was ushered out of the room anyway. I could've sworn I heard her call me daddy again before the woman closed the door.

The woman walked over and sat down on her knees, she lifted my upper body and placed large pillows behind me, I didn't even notice they were there. She leaned me back, the pillows propped me up and I was able to get a better view of the room. It was a very traditional looking room, straw floor and paper doors, there was sunlight seeping through the barely open door which lit up the room. Other than myself, this woman, and whatever I was laying on, the room was completely empty.

The woman picked up one of the bowls and put the spoon that was sitting in it up to my mouth, I just looked at her, I can't open my mouth.

It took her a moment to realize but when she did she just gently opened my mouth and put the spoon in, it was soup, and some pretty damn good soup too. She closed my mouth and flicked and area on my throat that made me swallow, it feels like this is the first time I've eaten in what feels like forever.

But now that I think of it, I never ate or drank anything during the war, the Ruby is what kept me alive during all that time.

The rest of the day went by quickly, after this lady finished feeding me she took the second bowl and ate herself, before she left she told me her name was Marigold. Another healer came in to give me one last treatment before going to bed, I didn't see the kid again.

Before I fell asleep I couldn't help but wonder why that kid kept calling me her dad, did I look like her dad? But soon my wonder turned into hatred, I am not a father anymore, my daughter is dead, she is gone.

And there's no way in hell that this kid is her.

She not, its not the same purple hair, not the same eyes.

This kid is not my daughter.

She is not my Ele.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Marileen has joined the party. *
> 
> And surprise surprise, Marileen's birth name is Ele!! (Its hawaiian for "shining one."


	5. Chapter 5

Waking up was difficult, I was exhausted but I refused to go back to sleep, breathing was difficult and my vision was blocked. Which made sense seeing how there was a toddler sleeping on my face.

She’s been there for 3 hours.

The sun slowly rose, a faint light flooding the room through the crack in the door. Once light hit the girl’s face she woke, a quiet yawn, small movements. She sat up, practically crushing my nose, she climbed down to the floor and grabbed a scarf, she wrapped it around her neck and sat down on my broken arm.

But it… didn’t hurt?

Actually now that I think about it, my leg feels fine too. It isn’t throbbing, no pain. Those medics sure do work fast.

And now that I was actually paying attention to my limbs, I could feel the blanket, I could feel the floor. I couldn’t move, not yet, but I have feeling. 

The girl leaned back and curled up, she looked up at me and smiled, her hair was crazy. 

“Hungry…” She whispered, Her stomach growled as if on cue.

Too bad for her I can’t move so she can just sit there and suffer in silence.

“Hungry.” She said again, a little louder this time.

I looked down at her, then back up. There’s nothing I can do but I don’t think she understands that because she started to climb onto my face again.

She grabbed both my cheeks and put her feet just above my shoulders, looking straight down at me.

“Feed me.”

Whose child is this? Gotta hand it to her, for a kid who could be knocked out by a grasshopper the girl has spunk.

She started to pinch my cheeks and move them around, I guess this is her own attempt at getting me to get up, but I couldn’t do anything to get her off, to make her leave. Piss off, brat, I don’t want you here!

It became very obvious I was stuck like this for a while, she continued to bother me for the next 20 minutes before she gave up and fell back asleep. She found comfort sleeping on my chest, I suppose the ruby gave off heat that she found soothing, and if I’m being honest I knocked out too. The feeling of having weight on me was nice, calming.

  
  


_ It’s nice, isn’t it? _

What are you talking about?

_ Don’t you remember? _

Remember what?

_ All those nights you would hold Ele, she would always fuss with me but calm right down with you, don’t you remember? _

  
  


The memories of a baby sleeping on my chest, late at night in the dark bedroom of our old home, flashed through my mind. She never did enjoy sleeping with her mother at night for some odd reason, perhaps I made her feel safe.

  
  


I remember.

_ I miss her little noises, those adorable little squeaks. _

If I remember right that was you making those squeaks, Ele was rather quiet.

_ Hey she was small and cute, can you blame me? _

I suppose not. Heh.

_ It’s time to wake up my love, you’ll miss her. _

Miss who?

_ Your new little friend. _

  
  


And with that I woke up, “Hngh…?”

…

. . .

…

Was that me?

“H...u..h?” Thats me! I’m talking! Well, sort of.

Okay, okay this is an improvement, even if it's a small one. 

Looking around a bit more I noticed the door was opened slightly, and I could smell food. I tried to turn my head to no prevail, my fingers twitched slightly as I tried to grab onto something, anything, I felt maybe that would help me understand my surroundings.

I felt a tap on my shoulder that startled me slightly, but then the tap turned into a warm hand that sat me up on the large pillows. It was the elder healer who came in before, she held a bowl of rice in one hand but nothing in the other, which was strange since she usually brought food for herself. That’s when I noticed the young girl holding 2 more bowls of rice.

The girl came over and sat on my lap and quietly ate her breakfast, that’s when the Elder began to feed me as well.

“I see you’re getting your voice back, as well as feeling in your limbs if i'm correct?” 

“Y...ea...h…” My throat was on fire, swallowing stung like a bitch now that I could actually feel things. 

“That’s good, you’re healing. Though it is a little strange.” She said as she continued to feed me and stopping to eat herself. 

I wasn’t sure what she meant by that, I thought they wanted me to heal, I thought this is what they wanted. 

“W...h..y?” I tried to speak, the more i talked the more it stung, at this point i was swallowing needles. 

“We’ve only been healing your limbs, so it would make sense you would get your feeling back, but the rest of your body has been healing as well, which is something we haven’t been doing.”

She took a bite of rice.

“In other words you’re either healing extraordinarily quickly, or someone else is healing you without us knowing.”

She fed me again, the pain got worse, the girl on my lap looked up at me and patted my arm in what I’m guessing is her attempt to comfort me. The Elder looked down at the girl then back at me, she looked off at the wall for a moment before speaking again.

“Has she been around you a lot?”

“Y...e...s”

“Does she sleep with you?”

“Y...e..s”

“Hmm..”

She continued to look at the wall before finally looking over at me.

“Marileen will continue to sleep here with you until you’ve recovered.”

…

…

…

I’m sorry she’s doing what?

“N….o”

“Marileen is more than just a child; she is a gift from the gods. She can stay with someone who is suffering from a deadly sickness and a few hours later they would have recovered completely. She’s always had a way to heal the ones around her, and she still has many other extraordinary abilities that she's still discovering. If she’s the one healing you this quickly then it would be best to let her stay here with you.”

. . .

So this girl is going to completely heal me of my wounds all by herself.

My life is in the tiny hands of a toddler who is currently choking on a mouthful of rice. 

There’s no way in hell I’d let her stay here with me.

“F...in...e..”

But I have no choice.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so damn long I got really lazy, it was also done over the course of a few months so if it's missing parts or what not that's why and it was also rushed to be finished at 1 in the morning so yea.
> 
> Hope you enjoy I'll start working out the next chapter :D
> 
> Next time on Forgotten Partners : Marileen teaches Infinite about patience.


	6. Chapter 6

I spent the next 3 weeks recovering with the girl by my side, she rarely left, when she did it wasn’t for long. She would go for baths, the restroom, or occasionally helping with a chore or 2, but other than that she was with me 24/7.

During this time I recovered most of my voice, I was able to hold a full conversation and read out a chapter in a book before my throat would begin to burn from overuse. I was still paralyzed from the waist down but I was able to sit up somewhat on my own but I still needed support to stay up. I could move my arms and hands and I was learning to write again so progress was being made.

Everything was great, everything was fine, I was recovering slowly, my wounds were healing. The only problem about everything… was the girl.

“I mean… at least she isn’t scared of you?” Alex said, the young healer tended to come and bring The Girl and I lunch if the other healers were busy. “I couldn’t care less if she was scared of me, she’s a nuisance and I want her gone.” I replied.

The nuisance in question was currently sitting on top of my tail and decorating it  _ very generously  _ with bows and hair ties and buttons and literally  **_ANYTHING_ ** she could get her grubby little hands on. 

“She likes you!” Alex said, they tried their best to comfort me but it did very little.

“No.” I replied.

“Don’t be mean she just wants to play!”

“No.”

“Just let her vibe, dude.”

“. . . huh?” I looked at them, legitimately confused.

“What? Something I say?” They looked at me, slightly concerned but mostly curious.

“What the  _ fuck _ does ‘let her vibe’ mean?” 

…

. . .

…

“God you’re old.”

“I’m 38?”

“Old man…”

This went back and forward for a few minutes and during this, the girl got bored. 

“No daddy you p’way wit me!” The girl whined, she slammed her little hands down on my legs and stomped her feet.

“I am, for the millionth time, not your father.” I told her, “Stop your pouting. I'm not going to play with you.” and with that I look back over to Alex, who has the eyes of disappointment. 

“What? What did I do this time?” I asked Them.

“You-. Can’t you just… pretend?” They asked quietly.

“Pretend to be her father?”

“Yes, she’d been orphaned all her life and you’re the first person she’s ever recognized as her parent. Why don’t you just go with it?”

“Because she will get attached, I don’t want or need a useless toddler to be drooling on me.”

“Infinite,” Alex spoke quietly, the girl had sat in my lap at this point to pout. “she’s already marked you.”

“I’m aware… and by code I am her new caretaker. But in no way does that make me her parent.” 

“Whatever you say.”

My throat was starting to burn, Alex was called away to help with the other wounded villagers and I was left alone with the girl. She was no longer pouting and was standing next to me so she could brush my hair.

The sun was starting to go down, the girl yawned and rubbed her eyes, she was tired and so was I. I yawned too, she heard me and tapped my shoulder. I looked over and she pointed at my lap, she did this often when we were both tired, that was her tell that she was ready for bed. I nodded and she ran to the other room to change into her pajamas.

As soon as she left I felt the pain in my chest, the same pain I felt every time she would leave. The Phantom Ruby would suck up what energy I had, as well as whatever energy the kid would leave behind. It would gather it up and try to activate, it always failed at that part, but never at giving me excruciating pain. It hurt like hell but all I could do was sit silently in pain, no one was around, I didn't  _ want _ anyone around to help me. This is one of the many punishments I deserve, so I will take it.

The girl would come back about 10 minutes later, bathed and with a new change of clothes, sometimes she would bring a book she wanted me to read to her which I never would. She’d get upset but go to sleep nevertheless. But this time was different.

She brought in a book, it was an english book this time which was strange because she usually read Japanese books. She walked over and climbed on my lap, I removed a pillow from my back so I was leaning back comfortably. She opened the book, I sighed, “I’m not going to read for you-”

“No I read!” She spouted back quickly. She looked up at me with the most determined little eyes I have ever seen. I was silent for a moment, not knowing what to say, so the girl looked at the book and started to read.

“A..Abb..y… Abby w-wa...alked… D..ow..n Abby walked down…”

She was slow, aggravatingly slow.

“Abby walked down the road.”

“Bapa…”

“Still not your father.”

She frowned but kept going.

“Shhh...e She sa..w She saw her f...fri...en..D Da..ve-.”

“She saw her friend Dave from across the stre-.”

“Bapa nooo! I read no you!”

“You’re too damn slow, you'll graduate college before you finish the first page!”

“No, I reading!” 

“Give me the damn book I’m not listening to this.”

I reached for the book, in which the girl hugged it to her chest and jumped off my lap, she sat in front of my feet, just out of reach.

“Give me the book, brat.” I told her.

Instead of arguing she just opened her book and kept reading from where she was. 

“Da..ve has a..an, an ap..ple.”

“Shut up already, give me the book I’m too tired for thi-.”

“No!”

“Give it!”

“No I wanna read!”

“ELE GIVE ME THE BOOK!” 

…

. . .

…

“I’m Mari’ween.”

“I know! I know…”

Shit. I lost my temper. 

I’m sorry.

“I wanna read.”

“I know…”

“P’ease?”

Sigh. “Go ahead.”

I leaned back, I threw my hands over my eyes, and just sighed. My thoughts were running wild as I remembered my daughter, imagining how she would’ve reacted if I had suddenly lost it like that.

I was shot back to reality when I felt a familiar weight on my lap, this time under the blankets. She got comfy before opening her book again, she began to read again but a lot more quietly, barely a whisper. She read through a few pages, still as slow as before but this time I didn’t finish the sentences for her. She got quiet and I figured she fell asleep, I closed her book and put it aside. I removed the last pillow on my back so I could lay flat, when I went down I layed this small girl next to me she immediately snuggled into the sheets warmth. I couldn’t help but lightly chuckle at her, I covered her in a blanket before covering myself.

“Goodnight… Marileen…”

And goodnight my darling Ele.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6! Whoop 2 chapters in a week hehe yesssss. This time with the mighty return of my dear friend Gummy's OC, Alex The Jackal!
> 
> Next time on Forgotten Partners : Muddy snails, stories of the past, and learning how to walk.
> 
> Cya next time! :P

**Author's Note:**

> FIRST CHAPTER BABYYYYYYYYYY.


End file.
